A Rock and a Hard Place
by NoCleverSig
Summary: An abnormal on the loose, a red silk kimono, and a 'trip' on Magnus' bathroom rug make matters hard for Dr. Will Zimmerman.


**Disclaimer: **I don't own Sanctuary or its characters, I just play with them. My words, however, are my own.  
**Note: **This little piece of rock candy goes to SentientMist, my Helen/Will shipper friend (forgive me John Druitt, for I have sinned...again). Thanks go to MajorSam for beta-ing and putting up with my_ "Are you done? Are you done? Are you done now?"_ Type A personality nagging. :) Peace. NCS

**A Rock and a Hard Place  
(Copyright 2010, NoCleverSig)**

The pounding on Magnus' bedroom door woke her from an extremely delightful dream involving another kind of pounding in the Sanctuary library with George Clooney, a ladder, and some very talented gymnastics.

"Magnus!" Will shouted from the hallway.

"Coming!" she yelled back. "Almost…," she muttered turning on a light, unwrapping herself from her bedding and grabbing her robe from the chair. She unlocked the door and swung it open to see a very frazzled, very bushy looking Will Zimmerman obviously having just risen from his own bed. Will's hair stood on end. His eyes were dark and filled with sleep, and his chin, cheeks, and upper lip were covered in thick stubble. It was a provocative look on him, Magnus thought fleetingly, taking in a sharp breath. He was barefoot, shirtless, and sported… SpongeBob SquarePants pajamas. In one hand he carried a snare, in the other a walkie-talkie.

Magnus raised an eyebrow at him, casting a questioning glance at both the snare and the pants.

"The Xenogryph is loose. We think it might be in your room," Will answered sleepily. He looked down at his pants. "Uh, I had to grab something to put on."

Something to put on? Will slept naked. _Interesting_, Magnus thought. She took in another quick breath.

"It's not in here, Will. I've been here all night with my door closed," Magnus replied. _Except when I went downstairs to make myself some tea_, she thought. The Big Guy was out of town on his regular five year…uh…hiatus.

Will focused his eyes, still trying to wake up, and looked at Magnus. Her long dark hair was mussed from sleep and she was wearing…the red silk kimono.

He'd seen it on her only once before, when Dr. David Anderson, her Stanford biologist 'friend,' had come for a weekend visit. To Will it signaled two things: 1) she was naked underneath, 2) she wasn't alone, and 3) she was naked underneath.

Will swallowed, trying not to stare, and cast a surreptitious glance behind her to see if Dr. David was in the room. Nope. That could only mean…Magnus slept naked. _God damn_, Will thought, trying to casually rearrange his pants. He took in a sharp breath.

"Well, Henry tracked its radiation signature to this hallway. Henry and Kate are checking the other rooms," he argued, his voice a tad high.

She wanted to ask how it had gotten out in the first place, but she'd save that for tomorrow. First things first: Capture the Xenogryph, slip back into bed, go to sleep, find George Clooney, and continue where they'd left off in the library. Something about a chandelier, she hazily recalled.

"Fine, come in. Let's look." She opened the door all the way inviting him to enter.

Will had been in Magnus' bedroom before, but only on occasion, usually talking to her while she packed for a trip and receiving last minute instructions. He remembered a very specific excursion she once took to Las Vegas and a little black dress she had pulled out of her wardrobe. He wondered if she still owned it. The little black dress, the red kimono…he found himself speculating on what other fascinating clothes Dr. Helen Magnus might possess.

"You look around the desk and the wardrobe. I'll check under the bed," directed the Doctor in question, snapping him back to reality. He watched as she opened her nightstand and extracted a flashlight. She turned the light on, bent down, and began looking under her large, four-poster mahogany bed. Her red silk kimono slowly rode up her skin as she bent over, exposing her long, lean legs, her taut thighs, her….

Will froze, unable to tear his eyes away.

"Find anything yet?" she asked, flashing the light to and fro under her mattress.

"Uh…," Will stammered, his pajamas growing tighter as he grew.

"Will?" she stood up, looking at him. He seemed out of sorts. Strange.

"I'm going to go look in the bathroom," he said hastily, turning before she noticed the bulge in his pants.

Will had never been in Magnus' bathroom. He flipped on the light. The first thing he detected was how much it smelled like her, hints of lavender, sandalwood, and an exotic spice he couldn't quite place lingered in the air. She had a large, white claw foot tub with an assortment of soaps and sponges on a silver tray beside it. A standing shower with intricate green and black marble inlays was built into the far left corner. Adorning her vanity were neatly arranged colorful glass bottles of what looked like perfumes along with stylish, but utilitarian, dishes for soap and tissue and toothbrushes. A glass vase filled with purple and blue lavender flowers stood in the middle against the mirror. On the floor was a thick, lush Persian looking rug, covered in splashes of blue, brown and crimson.

The room was so like Magnus; a double helix of intelligence and beauty all neatly packaged into one amazing human being. He closed his eyes and breathed in deep, forgetting all about the missing abnormal for a moment.

"Did you find anything?"

Will spun around, startled, bumping into Magnus, who was closer than he'd expected. She lost her balance and began to fall. Will grabbed her by the waist, tripped, and fell himself pulling her down along with him. They ended up together in a heap on the plush Persian rug of the bathroom floor. Magnus on top. Will on the bottom.

The first thing Will registered was how soft Magnus was. She lay across his legs, his chest, her red silk kimono so thin, barely covering her body, allowing his hands to experience each and every curve.

The second thing Will noticed was her expression. She was staring at him, their lips inches apart, her dark hair fanning over his face. She was smiling. It was a mischievous smile that made him finally take into account the third thing.

Will's pants were thin too, and the bulge that was currently pushing against SpongeBob and into Magnus' stomach was enormous.

"Excited to see me?" she finally quipped, not able to resist.

"Uh...," Will stuttered.

"Will, come in, this is Henry, over." The voice on the walkie-talkie was like a life buoy thrown to a drowning man. Magnus eased off of Will and sat back on her knees, handing Will the walkie-talkie laying on the floor.

"Yeah, Henry," Will choked out in response.

"Hey Will, we found it. Situation all clear! Hope you didn't have to wake up the Doc. Maybe we can sneak this one by her, over." Henry laughed.

Magnus raised an eyebrow. Will gulped. "Somehow I don't think we can sneak anything by her, over," Will replied into the radio. She smiled.

"Right," Henry answered sheepishly. He got the message. "Kate and I are going to take it back to the holding area. Thanks for your help. Over and out."

At a loss as to what to do next, Will stood up, held out his hand to Magnus, and helped her up. She took it.

"Another catastrophe averted," she announced, still grinning at him.

Did she mean the Xenogryph or his hard on? Will wasn't sure.

"Well…I….." He tried to think of something to say. Anything to say. But it was too little, too late. Magnus looked at him. He was mortified, she could tell, so she took pity on him.

"It's late. Lots to do tomorrow, including telling me how the Xenogryph escaped from its container. Why don't you get to bed." She patted Will on the shoulder.

"Yeah, okay, sorry about the interruption. Good night," Will mumbled, taking the opportunity she was giving him to escape and literally running with it out the door before she could even tell him good night in response.

Magnus took off her red robe, slipped into the cool sheets, and closed her eyes.

Suddenly George Clooney wasn't looking quite as delicious.

* * *

He had to talk to her. Had to say something. Ignoring this would only make it worse. Not only had she noticed, she had pointed it out. _Christ!_

"Magnus?" Will knocked on her office door the next morning. She looked up. She'd expected him. Being who he was he would want to talk about it, and frankly, given her sleepless night, she wanted to talk about it as well.

"Good morning, Will. Come in." She noticed he'd shaved and found herself a tad disappointed.

He stood, refusing to sit, a clear indication of his discomfort. So she rose from her desk and went round to meet him half way, leaning against the front of it, her arms crossed.

She was in a dark, lavender dress, Will observed. It was her usual professional attire. Heels, hose, and make up just so. But he could barely look at her without seeing the red kimono. It'd taken him weeks to shake the image the first time. He was wondering how many years it would take to shake it a second time.

"Magnus," he started, digging his hands into his pockets. "I wanted to talk about last night."

"Will, there's nothing to be embarrassed about," she said, unfolding her arms and placing them behind her on the desk, the change in position making her breasts somehow appear even larger to him. "It was a simple biological response to certain stimuli. It's completely natural."

"Magnus, I know but still…"

She got up and moved toward him.

"You know, women have a similar response."

She kept moving toward him, slowly. Was it his imagination or were her hips swaying more than usual?

"Certain body parts become…engorged."

She was three feet away from him now, her blue eyes staring him down.

"Hardened…," she continued.

She licked her lips. He was sure she licked her lips.

"Lubricated…," she said softly.

She was a foot away and still advancing, grinning, leering?

"In anticipation of certain…events," she finished, stepping into his personal bubble, suddenly toe to toe with him, her eyes locked with his. "We're just more subtle." She smirked.

He swallowed.

"You know, that Xenogryph is very sneaky. He might get loose again tonight. You may have to come check my quarters. Around the same time?" Magnus asked, challenging him.

She lifted a finger, one finger, and slid it down the top of his arm from his shoulder to his hand. He felt his pants becoming tight once more.

Will nodded. "Probably be good, just to check."

He turned to go, not sure what had just happened, but ready to run to his bedroom and set his alarm.

"Oh, and Will," Magnus said lightly tapping him on the shoulder, making him turn around.

She stepped up and whispered in his ear.

"Don't shave."

END


End file.
